Yeah, so the paint job leaves a LOT to be desired but the rest of this room fascinates me. Every time I look at this picture I clock just how makeshift everything is, literally thrown together from scraps, and yet I still love it. It works somehow and prob cost 5 bucks. Love. (Source:unknown again! Before the days of cataloguing my inspiration pictures)

14 Dec 2010

On my walk home from work I was feeling completely wound up and anxious about all the things I need to do before Christmas, all the money that I have spent and still need to spend to buy presents....all the usual Christmas list-making and brain hyperactivity.

And this site was mentioned in Easy Living- Haw-Lin- just images, no words. I love it! It has calmed me right down. It had almost the same effect hearing 'Beat it' followed by 'Let's get physical' on the radio the other day had on me- I forgot all the lists and the worrying. I have to admit to dancing in my tiny kitchen to those two songs was maybe a teensy bit more fun!

The site also completely suits my schizophrenic tastes, and it's nice to see I'm not the only one who seems to like wildly different styles, ethics, arts, and dare I say price-brackets.

P.S.: The site features ladies buttocks rather heavily- Haw-lin is obviously a fan...they ARE pretty amazing Haw-Lin, you're right.

8 Dec 2010

Ok, so it's a little battered but this couch is the reason I LOVE OLD STUFF so much. It's so perfectly worn and brought to life again by embroidered cushions and a throw. See, why buy new, when you could have that in your life??

6 Dec 2010

Since taking this vow of abstinence from the highstreet I feel like I am constantly in a state of searching. Searching for that battered desk, for a snug black winter coat, for that perfectly printed leopard jumper, searching for those flawlessly formed ankle boots that will carry me from outfit to outfit through the darkest, snowiest of winter days.

With shoes, this whole not buying from the highstreet thing poses a bit of a conundrum. I need shoes I can stand all day in, they need to keep me warm, match most of my wardrobe and magically elongate my stumpy legs, all for the smallest price possible. And I have to like 'em too.

Ethical shoes, in any capacity of the word, that meet the above criteria are hard to find and so I set about creating new parameters that allowed shoe purchasing from the highstreet. This involved discerning the place of origin, Portugal, Italy and Spain being preferable due to dying culture of shoemaking, and noting the materials used.

After dragging round the shops for five hours, mother in tow, I came home with two candidates.

Candidate 2: Jones Bootmakers Ollie in Black Suede, origin unknown (most Jones' boots are made in Spain and I went with it mostly cus I was desperate, freezing and hungry)

After much in-house wearing ... and a whole lot of soul searching (no pun intended) El Naturalista won hands down (the Ollies have been returned).

There's so much to say about my new boots that I'm going to have to give them a post of their own but it was satisfying to know that I didn't have to abandon my values to find the winter shoes I'd been searching for.

Campaigners took over Sir Philip Green's flagship London Topshop store yesterday, forcing it to close its doors on one of the busiest trading days of the year, as sit-ins and protests were staged across Britain against tax avoidance by rich individuals and big businesses.

The Arcadia retail group tycoon and businesses including Vodafone, Barclays and Boots are the focus of rising anger over government cuts that campaigners say could be avoided if alleged tax dodging were stamped out, bringing in some ?25bn a year to the public purse.

In Brighton, protesters superglued themselves to Topshop's window, while security guards in Oxford Street bundled reporters and protesters out of the store before around 70 to 80 demonstrators, chanting "Philip Green pay your tax", left voluntarily and moved on to Arcadia's BHS store, which also had to be closed to shoppers, as did a Vodafone shop.

Green, recently made an adviser on public spending by David Cameron, is under fire because his wife, his firm's direct owner, lives in Monaco, a tax haven.

Amid growing disquiet over spending cuts, the latest protests took place in Birmingham, Glasgow, York, Bristol, Manchester and Nottingham, under the banner of "UK Uncut" ? a new movement that is gathering support via social networking sites.

One protester, Ed Greens, 20, from north-west London, said: "We know Topshop owes the government tax. Together with companies like Vodafone, big businesses owe ?126bn. We are taking direct action on companies like Topshop ."

Eileen Smith, 78, said. "I support anyone who is fighting hese terrible cuts. How dare this government say we are all in this together when 24 members of the cabinet are millionaires and men like Philip Green and his cronies are feted. The hypocrisy is sickening."

4 Dec 2010

Well Miss J I have some ideas for winter warmers and you're in them! You absolute stunner. You and Steve rocked that day so big HUGE thank you to the both of you for dealing with my bossiness and producing some beautiful photographs for FAIR.

Emma wears People Tree and Ideo Winter Warmers all available now from FAIR.

3 Dec 2010

This is what I saw on my way to work this morning...
Time to hunt out some Fairtrade snow attire I think. I'll do some research and get back to you.
In the meantime I can recommend Divine's hot chocolate powder and M&S' Fairtrade chocolate chip cookies...

1 Dec 2010

I am desperately seeking a beautifully battered desk from which to blog. My apple crate shelves are screwed firmly to the wall with nothing to sit underneath them. Sometimes I curse my relentless pursuit of old home furnishings, especially as I never make the time to go to one of the big antiques fairs to get what I need. I rely instead on other people doing so and bringing their goods home to Brighton for me to pick from (at a jacked up price of course). One year later and I'm still deskless ... and chest of drawers less ... and dining table less - you get the picture.